PLANS for the future of The Kube – the Poole gallery which closed amid public outcry in January – have been revealed.

The £2.4m iconic glass building at Bournemouth and Poole College’s North Road site is set to become a digital design centre – a high-tech teaching space for computer-aided design and design technology.

Computer suites will replace exhibitions, but the building will remain largely unchanged, said college principal, Lawrence Vincent – comparing the open layout to a design studio or an architect’s office.

He added: “We wanted to keep the character that we value and we were looking at what would fit in there and be in keeping.”

He added: “It won’t be lost to the arts community. There will be a ground floor exhibition space and will be given over to the college end-of-year arts show as well. There will continue to be an arts theme.”

Meanwhile plans are being finalised to display the college’s £750,000 art collection, once housed in the building, at museums in Bournemouth and Poole – including a Henry Moore piece.

Some 200 students each year will make use of the new centre, studying courses such as modelling and animation, architectural visualisation and computer game design. The aim is to be a centre of excellence for the region, which Mr Vincent called a “a great step forward for our college”.

“The creation of this new Digital Design Centre will make us one of the first FE colleges in the country to directly respond to the new national skills strategy,” he added. “This will be an asset to the local community and economy and something we can all be very proud of.